“THANK GOD for Safety Pins!”

Here’s the picture that sparked my mom’s comment:

YEP, that’s me in the middle, with the big 80’s hair. My outfit is fashioned with safety pins. My mom designed and made the one-of-a-kind outfit for me. We had no money for fancy accessories, so she used safety pins to decorate the lapel and to mimic a belt. She also made a white star out of sequins and felt to represent my band – “The Burning Stars!” TOTALLY BADASS. I wished I still had this outfit!

But, my mom’s love affair with safety pins did not begin there.

It actually started 12 years prior to this picture, in April of 1975. We were in Vietnam as Saigon fell to the communist soldiers. It was a scary time. War, Chaos, Uncertainty. We had to escape Vietnam, our home, our country, the only life we knew. ALL of us, my grandpa, grandma, mom, dad, uncle, 2 aunts, my brother, me & my sister. My older brother was about 8 years old, I was not yet two years old, and my younger sister was only 5 WEEKS old. My mom was 22 years YOUNG, and had only given birth to my sister a few weeks prior. My mom was very week from childbirth, but escaping our fallen country was the only choice. My mom wrote this to me in an email last week:

“I was very weak after I gave birth to Duc (sister) and I knew I could not protect her very well. Remember, the war and the collapse of South Vietnam caused a lot of chaos, confusion and hurt.

And there were the safety pins to help me into action.

I safety pinned the onesie your sister wore to the shirt I wore, ALOTof safety pins…

Long story short, I fell to the ground several times in the chaos, people pushed me over, I was trampled, but I had practiced to brace myself and protect her if I fell. I fell to the ground several times, but your sister was safe – hanging from my chest.

30 years later when your sister had her first baby shower one of the gifts I brought her was a wrapped box of safety pins with a note:

“to keep your babies close to your heart, like I kept mine!”

PS – I always have safety pins on me – just in case.”

The things moms will do for our kids!

There’s so many uses for safety pins, but saving a life is probably not one that comes to mind! Here’s some examples of what others have done with safety pins:

Rita: I know, right? Tears come to my eyes every time I think about it. My mom has so many stories like this that just make your heart grow a little bigger, your eyes get a little misty. Thanks for reading!